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Oil pressure questionI've also seen this happen with Mobile 1 synthetic oil in a newly rebuilt Volkswagen Vanagon (water cooled) engine. Switching to a traditional oil solved it. I suspect what you are listing is much more likely, but wanted to throw it out there.

Buying new tires R15, R16, R17?As alluded to with the "Detroit" comment, particularly low-profile tires like 35 series can easily be damaged by holes in the road. Replacing your own tires is unlikely to be something you can do on your own unless you own specialized mounting and balancing equipment and a high volume air compressor. Though I have heard of people who have done it themselves, my local shop charges $20 or $40 to do it and I can't imagine it being worth it to do at home, particularly without the equipment.

Engine revs high 5th gear manual transmissionPatrick is, in general, right about the clutch being annoying to do. I've only replaced a clutch twice, and both times was on a car that I was replacing the engine on and had pulled the engine. The clutch replacement is easy, but re-mating to the transmission can be a real pain, even with the centering tool.

1989 Mazda 626 - Shifter is loose, what's wrong?This sounds like the '94 300ZX I bought back in 2005... I had the dealer replace the shifter bushings, and after that it felt like a new car. I don't recall exactly how much the bushings were, because I had a bunch of other things done at the same time.

Are used tires valuable?I once sold used tires on ebay. I had bought a car that had all season tires, with reasonable amount of tread left, and I wanted to put performance tires on it. I sold the old ones on ebay. I didn't make much money off it though, but I did get the tires to someone else who could use them.